START program helps families raise money for college

It may be one of the best options for saving for college that very few people know about.

The START Saving Program is a 529 College Savings plan. It's a savings account for college, called an Education Savings Account, that can be opened on behalf of a beneficiary as long as the account owner or beneficiary is a resident of Louisiana.

As an incentive, the State of Louisiana annually matches a percent of the deposits during the course of a calendar year. The percentage matched is based on the adjusted gross income reported by the account owner in the previous year.